Started off well and just down hill after orders were taken. Went in at 12:30 and it didn't seem to busy. One large group of about 15 people and a few tables of two to three people. Took orders and brought drinks. We then waited and waited. I guess the group was just to much for this place. About 30 mins later the waitress came over and let me know they were out of soup. It's the middle of the day, how do you run out of soup. I asked for fries. After about 45 mins the onion rings came. Those were good. 30 mins after my order came without the fries. They were still getting done. Another person in my party had fries and they were cold. There were two hairs on my plate so I sent it back. read more

We arrived at 2:00 on a Sunday, the place was busy, but not full, and we were told that they were too busy to serve us and that we should "come back later". We came back an hour later and they said the kitchen was closed (at 3:15 in the afternoon). When we reminded them that they told us to come back they agreed to seat us. Food was good but they got 2 orders wrong and we never saw our waitress after we got our food. Hire more staff! read more

I stumbled across this brewpub during a recent visit to scenic northeast Iowa. This place excels on so many levels. It was really a delightful surprise when we paid our visit. First, the location is amazing. The McGregor / Marquette area in Iowa is the most beautiful part of our state. The scenery getting here is a delight. Secondly, the brewery is located in a historic building that was once the home and base of operations for Joseph "Diamond Jo" Reynolds. He was one of the early titans of steamboat shipping and transportation long the Mississippi corridor. Several casinos still honor his name in Iowa. The venue on the "town triangle" is fascinating and will provide a lot of background in to the industry and history of the area. It is beautifully done. Third, the beers are very well done. I sampled some of the Scottish Lager and their signature Einfach dunkel style. Both were delicious, and complex. Some of the best I've had out of a local brewpub. This place is very worthy of a day-trip through Iowa's scenic countryside for hardcore beer enthusiasts, and is a must stop if you are in vacationing. McGregor and Clayton county should be very proud of this place. We were told that Old Man River beers will be more widely available shortly. Keep an eye out, this business is going places. read more

Didn't get to try their beer, but the Park Ranger....brisket and slaw on a pretzel bun. Excellent...had sauce on the side, so can't speak to that. Fries were great too. Owner/manager checked on us twice. I'd go there again, but the odds of me being in that town again are remote. Don't get me wrong, the town is really cool too. read more

McGregor is a sleepy little river town in NE Iowa. I was once there 2 years ago and was surprised and pleased to find a local brewery that also served good food. Fast forward 2 years. I return to McGregor. I cant wait to hit that brew pub. Here's where things go awry. The place is clean, the space is open and cheery. But ... They apparently are no longer a brew pub. They weren't offering any in house beers. The brewing equipment was sitting dormant. They had a few Iowa brews as well as some national ones. I tried an Iowa Pale Ale. My wife had a Fat Tire. Then comes the food. We order a sausage plate. The server returns to tell us they are out of one of the types of sausage, so we need to order something else. OK, chicken wings in a waffle bowl. Nope, no waffle bowls either. Can we get an order of chicken wings? OK, apparently they have those. We also ordered a trio of sliders. About 25 minutes later, we get our food. Brisket slider with coleslaw - so so. Pulled Pork slider - the same. The burger slider wasn't bad. The buns were good. Chicken wings - 5 drummies (not whole wings) for $9.00. Dipped in a sesame chicken sauce. I was underwhelmed. Some adjoining tables also had issues with missing or unavailable items. The wait staff was very overloaded. Its Friday on a summer weekend in a tourist town and you have only 1 waitress? 2 stars for a decent beer even if you didn't brew it. read more

Been here twice. First time, got mediocre service at lunchtime, had a burger which was adequate but nothing special. _Tried_ to eat there again last night, and had the worst service I've ever experienced. They seated us. 10 minutes later were given water. 30 minutes later had not even been asked for drinks -- it's a brewery for crying out loud, can't they at least sell us beer while we're waiting? We left, very disappointed, and at at the Mexican restaurant nearby where one man was taking care of more customers by himself! They need some serious help if they are going to succeed with their expansion. Why not one star? The beer is good, particularly what they call their GPA. Just wish they would have sold it to me! read more

Old Man River - Breweries Near Me - Mc Gregor, Iowa

Got in on a Monday to camp at Pikes Peak St Pk and found out this is the only day they are closed. After a great morning hike at Effigy Mounds Nat' Monument, I decided to return to McGregor to come here for an early lunch and am SO glad I did! A dynamite combination of great food, tasty beer and friendly service at super reasonable prices in a beautifully restored historic building! They did only one of their own beers but it was the one I liked the best on the sampler. I had a delicious Prime Rib Sandwich special with combo regular and sweet potato fries for $9! Their beer sampler included a sample of their outstanding root beer, which led me to the best part-dessert! And I did not see it on the menu so make sure to ASK for the ROOT BEER FLOAT w/ HOT BUTTERED POPCORN ICE CREAM...I am still dreaming about it. read more

My wife and I were there about a month ago. Beer and cocktails were very good. Food was excellent and the restaurant had very nice indoor and out door seating. Waitress was very good. Our kids are in high school but we wouldn't have a problem taking younger children. read more

Was in town doing some camping at Pike's Peak, and decided to give this place a try on a lark when driving back to my campsite. Really nice renovated industrial interior, very spacious, and I had great service on the day I went - a Wednesday night. I honestly don't even remember what I ate (I do remember being satisfied), but they get four stars for the Scottish Ale alone. Friggin' amazing. I think it's a somewhat regular offering. Really nice find in a very cool and pretty little river town. read more

We were on an amazing bike trip coming from Milwaukee and came upon Mac Gregor by accident. After arriving to our hotel we ventured out to find some place to eat. We stopped at the local gas station for a suggestion on which place we should try. They suggested Old Man River. We came upon the restaurant and to our disappointment realized it was closed even though the sign in the window stated that they should be open! No lights on, no "Sorry we had to close for the night" sign, nothing. We felt as though we were in the twilight zone, as it was normal dinner hours (6:30pm) on a week night and no one seemed to know when they weren't open. Are they closed for good? Did their hours change? If so they should make note of that for customers who want to patronize their establishment. Very unprofessional. read more

Was there twice. First time we were seated and given water but otherwise completely forgotten about or ignored. We left. But we did decide to try again, this time we grabbed seats at the bar. A couple who sat at the same time as us was helped while we were initially ignored. (The help sucks, that's the best way to put it.) The food and drinks were fine but we were turned off entirely by the service. read more

I would have given a zero star if I could. We tried to go for drinks and food, but at 6:00 on a Saturday they stopped serving food because the kitchen was too backed up I was told by a not so friendly wait staff. Also no masks on the servers or bar staff, so not very COVID-19 friendly: read more

Really good beers, great appetizers and friendly staff. I would recommend this place.

Yum! I ordered the Chicken Pecan Salad -it was loaded with goodies. Husband had special Chicken Fajita wrap which came with soup (stuffed green pepper). Wrap needed some spice but soup and fries were excellent. Great service! read more

This place is amazing! We showed up after they were supposed to be closed, but all of the staff and the owner were welcoming and happily served us our drinks and food ( burger, fries, cheese curds were all amazing!). We will most definitely return when we come into town again! read more

Good service and good food. Was able to make most of the sandwiches into salads for our picky eaters.

It had to be the worst service I've ever experienced in a restaurant. I ordered a beer and a cuppa soup and a hamburger. I watched as my server proceeded to bus tables instead of bringing my beer. I asked him for it, yet still didn't bring it. It finally arrived, but then I had to ask for my soup. Which was delivered with my hamburger. Food was good, but the manager needs to know that service is a bigger part of the experience for many of us. read more

This is how to do a brew-pub. Good food, nothing too complicated, just good burgers/steaks/pork cuts/fried fish, etc. Their German-style beers are second to none as well. Prices on everything are very reasonable as well, it is good to find a microbrewery that doesn't try to bend you over a barrel as the reward for travelling to their site. The wife really dug their root beer as they don't make it as sweet as others, my favorite beer has to be the Dunkel (though they are all very good). As a current Coralville resident, I have to say that I can't wait for Backpocket to open their brewery at IRL next summer! read more

Pleasantly surprised by this place. From start to finish, the experience was fantastic. Extremely friendly staff, excellent atmosphere and superior food! I haven't eaten here in over a year, but the onion rings and special dipping sauce was delicious and so was the pasta dish I ordered. My parents really like their burgers and tenderloins. We also loved the uniqueness of the restaurant brewing their own beer and learning some historical tid bits while we were there! A must EAT place!!! read more

Some hits and misses with this place. It is a brewery - - - the weizen beer was very good especially when paired with a starter of homemade potato chips which were served warm. We could not stop eating the chips and I would have drank my lunch I was not driving. I ordered the rueben and fries for lunch. The beer battered fries were good, the rueben was just average. We enjoyed sitting on the screened in patio and a nice Fall day but there was definitely no views of "Old Man River" from this establishment. read more

We have been there twice, even though we live 3 hours away! Food and service has been great both times. I love the homemade chips and dip ! Can't wait to go back again. read more

Located in a historic brick building just a short walk from the Mississippi River, Old Man River is a fine brewpub with an upscale menu. Brewers of better-than-average beer, they usually have about a half-dozen of their craft beers on tap at any given time; you can get a 16oz draw for under $4. Dinner entrées include pastas, chicken, salmon, and steak dinners that generally run $20+ but sandwiches, salads (I enjoyed the Asian Thai Salad), and burgers are more affordable. After church on Sundays, they offer free tours of their brewing operation. read more

Went here on the recommendation of our Boat Tour Guide out of Prairie du Chien. The New Owners have a great menu! First time in for drinks - super Old Fashioned. And they let us use a local phone when ours were having trouble checking on a reservation. Went back for lunch the next day - great atmosphere - good beer, good wine. Loved the Red White and Blue Burger - and they have both white and wheat Gluten Free Bread! My husband thought the fish and chips were excellent. Our server was attentive and professional. Definitely the best place in town. read more

We were told we had to go to old man for dinner while camping so we came hungry! We waited 20 minutes to get drinks an hour to get appetizers and then had to ask for the app to come. Then it was two hours before our meal! They are so understaffed! Great food but the wait with two little kids ruined it for me! read more

Good food, nice atmosphere, good service. I had a brisket sandwich with slaw ... delicious! We had catfish cheeks for an appetizer ... yumm. Local brew was good also. Cheesecake was really good but short of great. Reasonable prices. read more

Good service, food, and atmosphere. I was surprised that the sandwiches were served on regular bread...but the still good quality. Smoked salmon sandwich was really good. It's been months after we've been there and I still think about their mac & cheese! Honestly, you won't find another place like this in the surrounding area...(at least we couldn't during our stay). read more

Terrible service. So slow, cold food, a brewery with no beer menu, cheese curds with no cheese. And this place had so much potential too.

Old Man River is a hidden gem in McGregor. The managers have improved the service and consistency since taking over in early 2013. We had lunch on a Saturday afternoon in June 2014. The waitress was extremely friendly and knowledgable and recommended we try the Park Ranger (pulled pork) and the bacon cheeseburger. Both were excellent. They offered a very good beer selection and mentioned that they are working on more in-house brewing. We'll be back next time we're in the area. read more

Awesome place to eat. The beers were on point and reminded us of San Diego. We got the steamer sliders and couldn't believe how delicious the food was. There were 3 sliders total and they were all different. This was great because it featured all 3 of their top meats. I would definitely recommend this place. read more

Where to begin is quite a funny statement...if I could give no star rating that would be too much. We were relacing having a nice day out and decided to stop by this place to eat. We ordered our food and in the beginning were having a good time. After we ordered it took almost an hr to get our food and the salad bar that came with our food was being sprayed with chemical cleaner AFTER the food was already in it so there is a strike for contamination and a worry for the local health department. Next was the order mix up that the waitress brought out the wrong food, after NOT confirming orders she messed up one of the orders in the party and lied about her pointing out that food when she told her EXACTLY what she wanted and she still got it wrong and then proceeded to lie to the owner and not accept the mistake SHE made. The owner tried to charge us for the food we did not order after bringing out the correct food finally after an hour and still tried to charge us for both. She then refused to take off the order until we told her it wasn't what was asked for. She then proceeded to throw a mini tantrum like a child and put her hands in the faces of 2 of the women in our party causing an argument over a simple $11 charge that could have been resolved and done with but she decided to escalate it. We asked for boxes and they ignored our request and a lady in our party went to ask for them again and the owner pretty much told her because we may leave a bad review for their restaurant then why should she care? As a business owner myself this upsets me, your customer is ALWAYS right and you should do everything in your power to fix it not throw a fit and stomp off and then cause a scene in front of other customers and gossip with them about the situation. I hope these owners can learn how to correctly treat customers and how to correctly treat human beings as well as learn how to correctly clean and sanitize food areas. We were invited to the park for a movie last night and were planning on going but this experience left a bitter taste for us and we decided not to go because she was so rude to us. It's too bad that one bad experience from The Old Man River lost the town 5 new guests who would have loved to stay in town if she wasn't so rude. The health department, the chamber of McGregor, and the Better Business Bureau should all be concerned about this place and the negative effect it had on us and how we will unfortunately remember our day in the town. Date of visit: September 2019 read more

Stopped in on a cold Friday night and we are so glad we did! Had cheese curds and onion rings for appetizers, both were excellent! We all had sandwiches and had no complaints whatsoever. The pretzel buns were insanely good. Our waitress was excellent, very friendly and helpful. Couldn't have asked for better food or experience. Would highly recommend!!! read more

Beer selection OK, food decent, service meh. Waitress seemed like she would have preferred we went somewhere else. Next time we will.

I researched this place before going.We were camping at Pikes Peak and knew we'd check out the town. I was really excited to try it. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. It doesn't have a brew pub feel. It has more of a cafeteria feel. Its very bright and open and echoey. The service wasn't terrible like others have posted but it certainly wasn' great. We waited a little too long for the beer samplers we ordered and the root beer my kids ordered was filled super high almost overflowing and I had to pour some out so it didn't spill. That's not the end of the world but any real server knows not to do that to anyone especially not small children. There were some good points though. We ordered onion rings and they were good and there were tons of them! We also ordered hot wings and they were deep fried and super spicy also soo good. The best part was the fried cheese curds. OMG Heaven! The beer was ok. Not great but it was beer so I was happy either way. There were a few families there which was nice for us to not feel bad for bringing our kids into the brewery. read more

This delightful spot has a small town feel in a big city way. The microbrew selection was interesting--small samplers of 6 or larger samplers of 4. The smoked trout salad I had was perfectly dressed--a meal in itself. The wait staff was very attentive and the chef even came out to the table to check on our satisfaction. Right outside the door is a charming main street with antique and gift shops. It's a perfect place to relax if you're on the Great River Road beside the Mississippi. read more

Stopped in at this brewery for some much needed lunch while antique shopping in the area. I got a hamburger which was nothing to write home about, but my mother in law got the pasty which was simply divine. I noticed there was an employee at the bar who seemed to be enjoying a pasty for their lunch break, so that must be the way to go. The staff was friendly, but service was a little slow, so don't arrive famished. The atmosphere is ok; it can get a little loud if it's packed. read more

I love this place. It's in the center of the quiet, quaint little town in Iowa. My husband and I were out visiting some family and we all stopped in for dinner. It has a warm, friendly atmosphere and I love the service and the decor. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. I LOVED the cheese curds. I almost felt guilty about my caloric intake because I couldn't stop eating them. If your in McGregor, IA, you should definitely stop in read more

The food was very good. They cooked out desert right at our table. The building its self was also very nice, filled with kind worker. The meal was a little expensive but it was worth it. read more

This place might be ok for a group of four or less, but they can't handle anything more than that. I was there for a wedding rehearsal dinner and they had more than enough notice of the size of the party, but still couldn't get it right. As soon as we got there and got seated the server was sure to let us know they had just served a party of 26, so we might have to wait a little bit. That's not my problem. As said above, they knew well in advance of our arrival. Placing our dinner orders was a disaster. The servers seemed to bounce all around the table as they took orders and that became even more evident as the food started to come out. Some people were done eating before I got my food and others hadn't even gotten their food until I was done eating. I ordered a burger and they asked how I would like it done. I asked for medium, but it was more than well done. If they are going to cook all the burgers the same, they shouldn't ask how I would like it done. The burger could have used some sauce, but I was able to find some ketchup to throw on it. To top it all off they charged an automatic 18% tip to the bill. I understand this is normally done for groups of 8 or more, but the restaurant should recognize when they provided poor service and adjust their tip requirements. read more

My wife and I have eaten here many times and have never been disappointed. It is a place we take family when they visit and all have had nothing but great things to say about the food. The egg salad sandwich is the best i've ever had and i also really enjoy their rainbow salad with locally smoked trout. It has a very cool decor and is located in one of the many historic buildings in McGregor. You will not be disappointed! read more

Ok place for a beer, but service is lacking. We visited Old Man River while in town on a holiday weekend, and I was interested to try the locally brewed beer. The beer was decent, but the experience was overshadowed by some of the worst service I've experienced. Our group of 12 was told we could not be seated together, despite the fact that the large adjoining room was completely empty. I didn't think much of it (assuming they were not using the room for some reason) until that area proceeded to fill up with customers who received their food before we did. We waited nearly a half hour for our drinks, and over an hour and a half for our food. The food was relatively good bar food. The onion rings are tasty, and the portion size is enough for a large group. The manager did throw in a couple free drinks (about $8 of a much larger bill), but she really wasn't very helpful. When I inquired about the delay on our food, she literally told us to "roll with it". read more